Israeli police attacked Muslim worshippers and arrested hundreds of them in a predawn raid on East Jerusalem's flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque compound Wednesday.

Police claimed they had "arrested and removed over 350 individuals that violently barricaded" themselves inside the mosque in the Old City of annexed East Jerusalem.

However, witnesses put the number at over 500, who were arrested and taken in for questioning, according to Reuters.

The incident, during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and on the eve of the Jewish Passover, came amid fears that tensions built up during a year of escalating violence could be unleashed at the Al-Aqsa mosque, where clashes in 2021 set off a 10-day war in Gaza.

Earlier, Israeli police entered the mosque compound and clashed with Muslim worshippers, in response to alleged rioting that set off a furious reaction across the occupied West Bank and cross-border strikes in Gaza.

Israel also carried out overnight airstrikes on Gaza after nine rockets were reportedly fired from there. The strikes hit alleged training camps belonging to Hamas, which controls the blockaded coastal strip.

Witnesses said Israeli tanks also shelled Hamas positions along the border fence in the southern part of the Gaza Strip.

The Palestinian Red Crescent said 12 Palestinians sustained wounds from rubber-tipped bullets and beatings in clashes with Israeli police. It added that Israeli forces were preventing its medics from reaching the area.

Worshippers attacked

"In the yard to the eastern part of the compound, the police fired tear gas and stun grenades, it was a scene that I can't describe," said Fahmi Abbas, a worshipper at the mosque. "Then they stormed in and started beating everyone. They detained people and put the young men face down on the ground while they continued beating them."

Israeli police claimed in a statement that security units were forced to enter the compound after what it called masked agitators locked themselves inside the mosque with fireworks, sticks and stones.

"When the police entered, stones were thrown at them and fireworks were fired from inside the mosque by a large group of agitators," the statement said, adding that a police officer was wounded in the leg.

Thousands of worshippers have been spending the night in the mosque compound, amid fears of possible clashes with Jewish visitors to the site, which they revere as the Temple Mount, the site of Judaism's two ancient Temples.

Videos circulating on social media, which Reuters could not immediately verify, showed fireworks going off and police beating people inside the mosque.

Palestinian lawyer Firas al-Jibrini said police arrested around 500 people who were taken for questioning.

Quick condemnation

The incident drew a sharp reaction from Arab countries. Jordan and Egypt, both involved in recent U.S.-backed efforts to de-escalate tensions between Israel and the Palestinians, issued separate statements strongly condemning the incident, while Saudi Arabia, with whom Israel hopes to normalize ties, said Israel's "storming" of Al-Aqsa undermined peace efforts.

The Palestinian leadership condemned Israel's attacks on worshippers, which they described as a crime.

"We warn the occupation against crossing red lines at holy sites, which will lead to a big explosion," said Nabil Abu Rudeineh, spokesperson for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

The Israeli military said a soldier was shot and wounded during clashes with Palestinians in the West Bank town of Beit Ummar.

Over the past year, Israeli forces have made thousands of arrests in the West Bank and killed more than 250 Palestinians, while more than 40 Israelis and three Ukrainians have died in alleged Palestinian attacks.

Israel captured East Jerusalem, including the Old City where the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound is located, in a 1967 war and later annexed it in a move not recognized internationally.

Palestinians want East Jerusalem as the capital of an independent state they seek in the occupied West Bank and Gaza.